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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
DATE: Thursday, December 10, 2009
SITE: Reilly Center (5,780)
COURT: Bob Lanier Court
TIP-OFF: 7:00 p.m. ET
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Tom Ames (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
WEB AUDIO & VIDEO: www.GOBONNIES.com
SERIES: St. Bonaventure leads, 13-0
LAST MEETING: 1957-58 Season
St. Bonaventure 65, Le Moyne 50 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT: vs. Savannah State
Saturday, Dec. 12 @ 4 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
In the midst of its first losing streak of the young season, St. Bonaventure will look to improve on its current six-game home win streak at the friendly confines of the Reilly Center when it takes on Le Moyne Thursday night. The Bonnies are shooting 51 percent and holding opponents to 61 points per game over the home win streak that dates back to last season. The Dolphins made national headlines at the beginning of the season when they defeated Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in an exhibition game. Thursday's home game is the Brown and White's first since Nov. 20. A win would give the St. Bonaventure its longest home win streak (7) since the 2001-02 season.

SERIES HISTORY
Tonight's meeting between the two clubs in the first in 51 years. The Bonnies have won 13 previous meetings, which all took place in the 1950's. The two teams met twice per season from 1953-1958, with the first nine games in the series being settled by 10 points or less. St. Bonaventure has held Le Moyne to under 52 points in over half (7) of the meetings and is 9-0 as the home team. Playing in his first season of varsity basketball at St. Bonaventure in 1957-58, SBU Hall of Famer SAM STITH had 16 points and 10 rebounds in one of the two wins over Le Moyne that year.

THIS DAY IN BONA BASKETBALL
St. Bonaventure is 6-3 all-time, including 4-0 at the Reilly Center, when playing on December 10, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. On this date in 2003 under first-year head coach Anthony Solomon, the Bonnies defeated Iona 65-62 behind a combined 34 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and five steals from MARQUES GREEN and AHMAD SMITH.

EASY DOES IT
Thanks to solid interior play, easy buckets in transition and some recent hot shooting from beyond the arc, St. Bonaventure's impressive 51 percent field goal percentage through the first seven games leads the A-10 and ranks fifth in the nation. The Bonnies have shot over 50 percent in five of seven games and eight of 14 periods. The Brown and White's best shooting performance of the season came against Norfolk State when it finished 37-of-55 from the field for a 67 percent clip. The team's top percentage in a half came over the opening 20 minutes of the season against Cleveland State when it sank 77 percent (17-22) of its shots. Senior Jonathan Hall and sophomore Andrew Nicholson are one and two, respectively, in the A-10 in field goal percentage.

BOMBS AWAY
After going through the worst three-game scoring stretch of his career at St. Bonaventure to open the season, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS has found the shooting stroke that helped him sink 81 three-pointers a year ago. Matthews enjoyed a breakout tournament at the BTI Classic, averaging 21 points and six trifectas per game over three games. Matthews equaled the school record of eight three-pointers in the final game against Illinois State, while also tying his own career-best of 28 points. The Washington, D.C. product's 3.4 three-pointers per game currently lead the A-10 and rank 10th in the country.

GET READY, GET SET, GO!
Simultaneous with its solid 4-3 start to the season has been St. Bonaventure's ability to get off to great starts in the first half. The Bonnies have taken the lead into the locker room in five of seven games, including four leads of 13 points. Prior to Mississippi State, the Brown and White had out-scored their opponents 224-160 (+10.7) in the first stanza, while shooting 57 percent (84-147). Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is averaging team bests of 9.7 points and 5.4 rebounds over the opening 20 minutes.

HOME COOKING
With its win over Binghamton on Nov. 20, St. Bonaventure extended its home Reilly Center win streak to six games. The Bonnies closed last season on a four-game A-10 home win streak. Over the six-game win streak, the Bonnies have out-scored their opponents by 12 points per game and have shot over 50 percent in four of the six games for a cumulative 51 percent clip (161-317). Senior JONATHAN HALL is averaging 16.1 points and 7.2 rebounds during the home win streak. Hall has a 30-point and 20-point effort during the run. Senior CHRIS MATTHEWS (11.5) and sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON (11.2) are also averaging double figure points during the win streak.

POINT GUARD BY COMMITTEE
Just like the early part of last year, head coach MARK SCHMIDT has opted to use a pair of players to occupy the point guard position. Juniors OGO ADEGBOYE and MALCOLM ELEBY make up the Bona floor generals, combining to average 12.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. Eleby has experienced two full years under Schmidt, while Adegboye is in his first season after transferring from Lamar CC (Colo.). A more physical point guard at 6-foot-3, Eleby has led the team in rebounds the last two games, averaging 8.0 caroms per contest. Eleby has also led the team in assists in four of the last five games. Adegboye's breakout came this past Saturday in Mississippi when he scored a team-high 13 points. The fleet-footed lefty is shooting over 50 percent from the field.

THE CN TOWER
Standing 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, sophomore
ANDREW NICHOLSON is the center of attention for opposing teams. That hasn't stopped the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year from getting off to a great start to his second season, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (14.6) and rebounding (8.0). Nicholson is shooting an impressive 61 percent (41-67) from the field and has shot below 50 percent just 10 times in 37 career games. Nicholson poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field against St. John's and then equaled a career-high with 29 points and a career-best 14 boards against Norfolk State.

RACE TO 100
After producing the third-best blocked shot total in school history as a freshman, ANDREW NICHOLSON is now trying to become just the third player in program history to reach 100 career blocks. Nicholson currently stands at 95 rejections through 37 career games, failing to block a shot in his last two games - the second longest streak of his young career. All-time shot block leader CASWELL CYRUS accomplished the feat in 36 games. Cyrus' 100th career block came in the 12th game of his sophomore year when he set the then-school record with eight blocks vs. Siena. Nicholson tied the record last year vs. Princeton and then broke it three games later at Bucknell with nine blocks. Nicholson is currently seventh in the Atlantic 10 at 2.0 blocks per game.

PAINTING THE TOWN BROWN
St. Bonaventure has been extremely efficient on offense this season. The Bonnies have shot 50 percent or better in five of the seven games and are shooting at an impressive 51 percent clip (191-374) for the year - the fifth-best percentage in the nation. The easy buckets around the rim have led to a commanding 256-196 edge in points in the paint. The 256 points in the paint account for 51 percent of the team's offense this season.

MAD DOG
Despite playing just 8.4 minutes per contest this season, redshirt freshman MARQUISE SIMMONS ranks second the team in rebounding at 4.1 per game. His fierce work on the boards has earned him the nickname "Mad Dog" from his teammates. Simmons' 29 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass, have come over 59 minutes of work giving him an average of 0.5 boards per minute. Simmons has grabbed five or more rebounds in four of the last five games despite playing just 52 minutes.

MR. NOVEMBER
Senior JONATHAN HALL has made an immediate impact during his short time in the Brown and White, especially in the opening month of the season. Last season, Hall scored in double figures in the opening nine games, including all six games in November. Hall has continued his early season success with six more double figure games, including a game-high 20 points in the season opener, to bring his career 12-game November scoring average to 15 points. Hall is second on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per contest and third in rebounding (3.7) and assists (3.2). The Miami, Fla. product leads the A-10 in field goal percentage (.627).

THE CINCINNATI KID
After a freshman season in which he averaged 3.3 points and played sparingly, MICHAEL DAVENPORT has shown major progress in his sophomore campaign. After scoring in double figures one time as a freshman, the Cincinnati, Ohio product has already produced three double-digit efforts off the bench this season. Davenport began his second season in style, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field. Davenport is fourth on the team in scoring (9.3), tied second in assists (20) and tied for ninth in the A-10 in field goal percentage (.549).

IN OUR DEFENSE
After failing to hold an opponent to less than 50 points over the previous 275 games, St. Bonaventure held back-to-back opponents to 41 and 44 points, respectively, in the month of November (Binghamton & Southeast Missouri State). It marked the first time since 1982, that the Brown and White have held two consecutive opponents under 50 points. St. Bonaventure held Binghamton to just 40 points - the best defensive effort since 1995 when it held Appalachian State to 32 points - and then followed with a 66-44 win over Southeast Missouri State. Through seven games, the Bonnies have scored 123 points (17.6 per game) off opponents' turnovers and have held four opponents to 40 percent or less from the field.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
Partial credit for St. Bonaventure's sensational shooting percentage is its improvement in passing the ball. The Bonnies currently lead the A-10 in assists per game at 15.9. As a team, St. Bonaventure has passed out an assist on 58 percent of its field goals, including 26 against Norfolk State. Junior point guard MALCOLM ELEBY ranks third in the A-10 at 4.1 per game and has led the team in assists four of the last five games. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVENPORT passed out a team season-high and career-best eight assists in the win over Norfolk State.

20/20 VISION
During the team's 98-71 blowout win over Norfolk State at the BTI Classic, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON and senior CHRIS MATTHEWS became the first duo since 2007-08 to score 20 points in the same game. Nicholson equaled a career-high with 29 points, while Matthews drilled six three-pointers en route to 21 points. The last duo to score 20 points in the same game was MICHAEL LEE and TYLER RELPH on senior day against Dayton in 2008. Lee and senior ZARRYON FERETI also scored 20 points in the same game three times that season.

BENCH POINTS
One of the keys to St. Bonaventure success in 2008-09 was the play of its bench. The Bona reserves out-scored the opposing bench 23 times last season and have picked up where they left off. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVENPORT led the way with 19 points in 28 minutes off the pine against Cleveland State, while seven players off the bench combined for 28 points against Binghamton. So far this season, the Bonnies are averaging 22.6 points per game from their bench, highlighted by 9.3 from Davenport and 6.6 from junior OGO ADEGBOYE. The Bona bench supplied at least one double figure scorer in 17 games in 2008-09.

BOARD WORK
St. Bonaventure has out-rebounded six of its seven opponents this year for a +5.4 margin. The Bonnies currently rank fourth in the conference and 65th in the nation in rebounding, while 10 of the 14 A-10 teams sport a positive margin. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the way at 8.0 caroms per game, while five other players are averaging over 2.3 boards. A total of 11 players have grabbed at least one offensive rebound, highlighted by a team-high 12 from Nicholson.